Unsung Heroes – Prepared Servants

God uses regular people in spectacular ways.
 Genesis 14 Context
o Abraham (Abram) and Lot travelled around – Canaan  Egypt  Canaan
o With all their livestock – Genesis 13:2 Abram was very rich in livestock, silver and gold
o Abraham and Lot separate – Genesis 13:11 Lot to the Jordan valley, Abraham to Canaan
(Genesis 13:12), Abraham then moved to Hebron (V. 14)
 Genesis 14:1-16
o Kings of the valley were under subjection to the king of Elam for 12 years but then rebelled.
o Chedorlaomer got his three friends to help him put down this rebellion.
o Attacked south on the east side of the Jordan River to Ashteroth-Karnaim (V. 5) east of the Sea
of Galilee, Ham east of the Jordan River, Shaveh-kiriathaim east of the Dead Sea, hills of Seir
are southeast of the Dead Sea, El-paran is now Elat at the northern tip of the Red Sea.
o Then turned northwest to Kadesh then east to the Dead Sea – MAJOR campaign
o At the Dead Sea, the 4 kings faced the 5 kings of the valley and defeated them, looted the cities
and started north – all okay except they took Lot and all his possessions. Enter Abraham
o Abraham takes his 318 servants and the men of Aner, Eshcol and Mamre
 V. 14 Abram assembled his 318 trained men
 Servants prepared for action
o After their day jobs – practice with swords. Practice with arrows. Practice with spears
o Had done the work of preparation – hard, in addition to, inconvenient. Required discipline
o Prepared for action, when called upon, ready to go
 Loyal servants
o Born in his household (V. 14)
o Taught to serve the one true God
o Whatever you ask of me…
 Committed servants
o Outnumbered against a victorious army on the move
o From Hebron to Dan – 140 miles through rugged terrain
o From Dan to Hobah – another 100 miles
o Victory! Defeated the enemy (V. 17) and recovered all the people and property. Victory!
 Unsung heroes
o We don’t know their names, families, what they did after
o They didn’t get any of the loot that was recovered (Vv. 22-24)
o Regular guys with regular jobs – 318 unsung heroes
 God uses regular people who:
 Are prepared servants – have made themselves available to be trained.
 Are loyal servants – whatever the master asks of me, I’ll do it.
 Are committed servants – No matter the personal risk – it isn’t about me, it is all about him.
 Is that you? Does God look at you and see a servant who is prepared? Does he see you as
loyal to his cause, not sharing loyalty with anyone else? Does he see you as completely
committed to him?